


Uncle Merlin

by AdyBrooke14



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: BBC, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-17
Updated: 2019-09-17
Packaged: 2020-10-20 12:24:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20675351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AdyBrooke14/pseuds/AdyBrooke14
Summary: This is an au of the series five finale, for all you still in denial. Arthur and Guinevere leave to visit the market for a day, leaving Merlin in charge of watching over their daughter for the day! This is a oneshot."With a golden flash of his eyes, a small butterfly appeared in his hands. It flew from his grasp and landed on the know awake princess as she stared at him. She let out a giggle of delight as it landed lightly on her nose. He smiled warmly at her, and instantly knew he would protect this tiny child with his life."





	Uncle Merlin

**Author's Note:**

> Just a one shot!

Merlin yawned loudly, waking up a rather well rested Gaius.

“Merlin, have you slept in the slightest?” the old man sighed.

Merlin shook his head sheepishly, causing the older man to frown.

“What? Arthur has had me polishing armour and sharpening his sword all night, not to mention scrubbing all twenty pairs of his hunting boots! Why someone needs twenty hunting boots, I will never know!”

“Well, just remember to take care of yourself,” Gaius said sitting up.

“I will!” Merlin replied before grabbing an apple and running out the door to wake Arthur. Merlin raced into the king’s chambers, gently shaking Arthur. He knew if he opened the curtains as usual, the queen would wake up and he knew Guinevere didn’t have to be awake for a few more minutes. Arthur didn’t budge and Merlin frowned. He looked around for a second and spotted the small form, laying in a cradle beside Guinevere. He smiled as he approached the tiny princess, who had recently lived to be three summers old. Merlin had never gotten any personal time with her, as she was always in someone else’s arms. (mainly Gwen, Arthur, or one of the knights who were surprisingly gentle with her). With a golden flash of his eyes, a small butterfly appeared in his hands. It flew from his grasp and landed on the know awake princess as she stared at him. She let out a giggle of delight as it landed lightly on her nose. He smiled warmly at her, and instantly knew he would protect this tiny child with his life.

“A-hem,” he heard a familiar cough from Arthur’s side of the bed. Merlin grinned and went to help Arthur get dressed. 

“I saw that,” Arthur mumbled as Merlin slipped a robe around his shoulders so he could eat breakfast. Arthur had long known about Merlin’s magic since he had displayed it to Arthur and used it to heal him after the battle at Camlann. After a few months, Arthur had grown to accept it and even legalized it in Camelot. He had never mentioned Merlin becoming court sorcerer, and Merlin had a feeling that the king secretly enjoyed having Merlin close to his side, even if it was as a servant. Merlin flashed a goofy smile at the king, who playfully rolled his eyes as he tossed a grape in his mouth. Merlin frowned as he went through Arthur’s wardrobe, searching for something to dress the king in.

“Try something simple, Merlin.” Arthur said. “Guinevere and I are going to shop in the market today and I’d rather remain incognito.”

“Of course, sire.” Merlin replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm. 

“Merlin, sometimes I do wonder who your talking to.”

“Of course I do! I’m talking to the biggest prat in Camelot!”

“As defending champion, are you nervous?”

Merlin laughed and finally pulled out a white tunic with a navy cloak for Arthur to put on and if necessary disguise himself.

“Arthur, did you mean you and Gwen would both be going to the market?”

“Yes. that’s what I said, you clotpole. Have you got ale in your ears?”

“I was not at the tavern! And the reason I ask is that I’m curious. Who will be watching Princess Ygraine?” Merlin asked, nodding to the tiny form of the sleeping girl. Her skin was dark but she had Arthur’s blue eyes and her hair was a wavy brown that matched her skin. Gwen sat up in bed now, fully awake and hugging her daughter tightly in her arms.

“Well, actually Merlin, I was hoping you could.”

“My love, I’m not sure that’s a great idea…” Arthur trailed off, frowning at Merlin’s worried expression.

“M’lady, is that a wise decision?” asked Merlin nervously.

“Oh, don’t be like that! I was there the whole time you saved a baby from that wolf in the forest last week.”

“Merlin did what?” Arthur asked, amazed.

Merlin groaned, but Guinevere was not giving up. She knew how terrible Arthur could treat Merlin, and she wanted to prove that Merlin was capable of more than he imagined.  
“I wanted to go on a ride, and Merlin is the best protection I could have in the kingdom-” she paused to give the raven-haired boy a wink.”So I asked him to join me. We heard screaming somewhere and when we followed it, we saw a poor screaming child wrapped in a blanket with a wolf growling at it! Merlin jumped off his horse and raced toward the child and placed himself in front of the baby. Before he could defend himself, it attacked him and tore at his shoulder! Go on, Merlin. Show him!”

Merlin sighed and tugged his sleeve off his shoulder, displaying a deep gash covered by his red neckerchief. Arthur gasped in horror but Gwen continued.

“Then, he cast a spell and it turned into a small puppy! Merlin picked up the child, who wrapped his arms around him as if his life depended on it and Merlin carried him on foot all the way to Camelot! He was afraid of dropping the poor boy if they rode horseback.”

“Was nothing, Gwen-” Merlin groaned, embarrassed.

“Yes it was!” She snorted unladylike. “I would rather you over anyone else spend a day with our child! She would be safer with no one else!”

Arthur nodded slowly in agreement. “Alright, but protect her with your life!”

Merlin nodded wholeheartedly. “Yes, sire!” This time there was no mock in his voice, he truly meant it. Arthur gave a satisfied nod and recounted all the times Merlin had personally saved his life, and he was still alive! Arthur wrapped his arm around Gwen’s shoulders and she giggled, leaning into him as they walked from the palace. Merlin sighed as he watched them leave from the window in Arthur’s room. He glanced nervously at the child who was staring at him with wide, watery eyes.

“Mama!” She screamed and a single tear shone as it glistened down her cheek. Merlin panicked, not knowing how to soothe a child. He walked over and lifted the weeping girl from her bed and he sat on the king and queen’s bed, holding her tightly in his lap. She looked up at him with wide blue eyes as his flashed gold, creating an illusion of Gwen reading a book in a chair beside the fireplace. Ygraine laughed in delight and clapped her hands with excitement, racing towards her mother. Merlin tensed. This was just an illusion, he would have to use most of his power to actually create an actual illusion you could touch. He frowned but closed his eyes in focus, and whatever he willed the illusion to do, it did. Gwen picked up her daughter with a smile and rocked her gently.

“Now, Ygraine. Why don’t you go over there with Merlin? He’s very fun!”

“Oo-okay mommy.” Ygraine said with a slight frown. He made the illusion stand and walk out of the room. Ygraine looked over at Merlin and a big grin plastered on her face. 

“Kitty!” She cried.

Merlin looked at her, confused. “Kitty?”

“Yes! Show me kitty!” She replied impatiently. Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, Merlin thought dismally. Where was he supposed to find a cat? He looked down at himself with a grim expression as an idea came to him.

Catulus! He whispered and slowly he felt himself shrink and shrink till he was no bigger than Ygraine’s dress. He raced to the mirror and stared at himself in surprise. He actually was a cat! He had black fur and he still kept his bright blue eyes. Ygraine screeched in delight and grabbed poor Merlin around his stomach and squeezed him so tightly that he thought he was dying. He let out a helpless mewl and tried to wriggle away, he would rather die than scratch Ygraine. At that particular moment, Arthur walked in.

“Oh! Merlin, I forgot-“ he stared in shock as he quickly recognized the red neckerchief around the cat’s neck.

“Merlin!” Arthur exclaimed. Quickly, Merlin turned back into himself. “I can explain!” He said, but Arthur was practically rolling with laughter.

“Your form of entertainment is no business of mine,” Arthur said in hysterics.

Merlin stood their impatiently with his arms crossed and rolled his eyes, waiting for Arthur to stop. He looked to Ygraine on the floor beside him and his expression quickly softened. She stood up and held her arms up to him. He smiled and gently picked her up, sitting her on his hip. Arthur laughed even harder, to Merlin’s annoyance as she climbed to his shoulders and rubbed his hair in every direction. It now stuck in every direction, but Merlin didn’t notice since he was focused on keeping her from falling. Finally, Arthur began to calm himself.

“You came to tell me something?” Merlin inquired.

“Oh, yes! I came to tell you we wouldn’t be back for lunch like we planned. Guinevere has packed a picnic.”

Merlin nodded and Arthur left the room, still grinning widely. “Go horsey!” Ygraine cried. Merlin lifted an eyebrow and began to gallop through the room and when she pointed to the door, he sighed but continued to the hallways. He just knew what they would say seeing him act like a horse, but he would have done anything for the small child. He skipped into a trot while making neighs and horse noises. Ygraine’s shrieks Of laughter echoed through the halls and Merlin was forcing himself to stay awake, knowing he could not fall asleep and leave the princess unsupervised. He carried her on his shoulders to the kitchen where he served her lunch. 

She giggled in delight as he juggled five apples and tossed one in her bowel for her to eat. Again! She cried. Merlin was confused. What did she mean by again? Good eyes! She insisted. He realized she liked that his eyes turned gold when he used magic, so he caused a rose to appear in her head. She squealed with excitement and pulled it out, pluck each petal one by one. Once she was satisfied with the destroyed flower, she looked back him excitedly. He held his hand out and stuck out his pointer finger, and a small raven flew threw the window in the kitchen, perching on his outstretched fingertip. Ygraine stared in awe and reached to pet it. To Merlin’s surprise, she was extremely gentle with the creature and it flew into the palm of her tiny hand. As she stared at the small creature, Merlin looked up to see Gwaine walking towards him, crunching an apple loudly in his mouth.

“Ah! Merlin! Just the warlock I was looking for!” the knight chuckled. Merlin smiled and leaned against the table behind him. 

“Ya’ know, I was wondering if you would like to help me pull off a, oh what would you call a small act of playful revenge?”

“A prank?”

“Yes! That! So, what do you say?”

“Gee, Gwaine, I'd love to but I’m watching-“

Merlin and Gwaine both turned their heads to the empty seat that Princess Ygraine occupied not only moments ago. Merlin felt his heart drop to his stomach and he felt panic creeping inch by inch slowly towards his heart. He tried to breathe in and out, calmly. Gwaine looked over at the stool with an unamused expression.

“Merlin, mate, I know that stool can be pretty terrifying I myself and scared of it a little, but why don’t you focus on something else, eh?"

“NO! Gwaine, don’t you remember? Princess Ygraine was sitting right there, I’m in charge of watching her today!” Merlin felt himself shaking and Gwaine calmly wrapped an arm around the thin man’s shoulders.

“So Arthur really left you in charge of his kid? He must have been desperate! Gwaine said playfully but Merlin shot him a cold glare.

“Alright, alright! We can look for her! I’ll alert Leon and Percival, I’m sure they’ll be willing to help.”

Merlin nodded numbly and raced up to Arthur and Gwen’s room, searching around for the small princess. He crawled under the bed, opened cupboards, checked in chimneys, and opened every trunk in the room. He threw around laundry and looked through every pile of clothing. He threw the covers from the bed and looked under the covers and pillows and felt his world slowly come apart as he looked through each location. He moved to every room in the palace, with help from Leon, Gwaine, and Percival. He crawled through the tunnels beneath the palace and even looked out the windows, fearing she might have fallen out of one. It took a few hours until Merlin thought to look in the one room closest to Arthur’s, Morgana’s old room. 

No one had the heart to do much in there after she betrayed Camelot, even Merlin was hesitant to look in that direction. He swallowed his fond memories of the young woman he killed and entered the room, which was open to his surprise. He looked around the room and was excited, knowing this was the only place she could be. He peered under the bed and behind the curtains. Every motion he took was echoed with fatigue. Between not sleeping last night and using his magic all morning, he was spent. He heard a soft giggle as he looked in the wardrobe and smiled, knowing all too well where she was.

"Hmmmmmmm? I wonder where little Ygraine could be?" He whispered and made a show of looking everywhere else in the room. Finally, he threw a dress aside and she leapt our at him, jumping into his arms. She put her hands on his cheeks and he gently placed his forehead against her, causing her to erupt in a fit of laughter. Leon, Gwaine, and Percival all raced in, their faces washed with relief.

“Ah, so Uncle Merlin found her then?” Gwaine smirked.

It was a joke the knights all had, trying to embarrass Merlin. They claimed he and Arthur were practically brothers, though Merlin claimed he held no such place in Arthur’s view. The knights, understanding it embarrassed him, tried desperately to get the princess to call Merlin uncle just to see Arthur’s reaction.

“Uncle Merlin!” Ygraine Cried and wrapped her arms around his neck. Merlin smiled and gently drew her against his chest and carried her slowly to Morgana’s old bed. The knights left, knowing the princess was safe. 

“Story! Story!” She demanded. Merlin nodded in agreement and began an all too familiar tale.

“Once upon a time, there lived a mean prattish prince who went by the name of Arthur.”

Ygraine giggles, loving where this was going.

“One day, the very handsome, kind, and innocent young warlock, Merlin, arrived in Camelot. Poor Merlin saved Arthur’s life from an evil witch and he was named Arthur’s servant! Nobody knew he was a sorcerer because it was illegal and he kept it hidden! Everyday, Merlin and Arthur went on a quest of some sort, to save their friends or defeat a foe! Arthur continued to treat Merlin terribly, and the poor servant followed his prince with undeterred loyalty! The two became very close and became more than servant and king, they became friends. Time and time again, Merlin saved Arthur’s life, and Arthur, in turn, let Merlin know he cared about him every once in a while.”

“When?” Cried Ygraine.

“When did he show he cared about me?”

She nodded.

“Well, one time we were fighting the dorocha, horrible creatures from the veil that looked like ghosts! Arthur thought he would sacrifice himself, and gave Merlin this sigil to run the kingdom if anything happened to him.”

Slowly, Merlin pulled out a necklace that had a sigil on it bearing the Pendragon crest. Ygraine giggled and took it in her hands. 

“Would you like to see the forest?” Merlin asked.

Ygraine shrieked in delight. Merlin lifted her from his lap and placed her on his shoulders as they walked through the palace. When they finally exited the citadel, Merlin and Ygraine were in the forest in no time. Ygraine happily rode on his shoulders and Merlin reached up to the trees and handed her apples as he walked whistling a cheerful tune. Ygraine didn’t know it, but she closed her eyes and swayed happily. Merlin used some tricks to summon forth the timidest animals to them and took Ygraine down so she could pet rabbits, ferrets, foxes, and even sat on the back of a deer for a while.

When she was done, she crawled back on Merlin’s shoulder and he stopped for a drink. When he was closing his eyes, Ygraine darted her small hand down and splashed him in the face. He gasped in surprise as it soaked his clothing, but simply smirked and tossed her in the air very high. She screamed in horror and as she fell closer to the ground, he used his magic to slow her descent and caught her in his arms. She instantly pulled at his hair as he placed her back in his shoulders so he wouldn’t do it again. Merlin and Ygraine began to head back when three men dressed completely in black, raced towards them with raised swords. Merlin snarled and set Ygraine on the ground, and stood in front of her protectively. The bandits all raced at him, and with a snap, they flew harshly into trees and one unlucky fellow hit a stone. To Merlin’s surprise, there was another one he missed. The bandit swiped his sword across Merlin’s chest, and he gasped, trying not to fall. Merlin shouted a spell and the bandit went flying backward.

As he soars through the air away from the warlock and the princess, his sword ran along Merlin’s cheek, causing a stream of blood flowing down his face. All four bandits lay either dead or unconscious, and Merlin felt himself slowly sinking to the ground. Using most of the energy he had left, he drew his hand to his chest and muttered a small spell to close most of the wound, but he didn’t have the strength to heal it completely. 

He leaned against the tree Ygraine sat against with a shocked, pale expression and he felt like weeping, knowing what a child her age had just witnessed. He felt small tears escaping his eyes and he secretly hoped they would drain the blood dripping from his face. Ygraine meekly stood up and held her outstretched arms to him. He took her in his arms and sat her against his hips so she would get blood on her dress from his hip. She pointed to his neckerchief and he handed it to her, then she wiped his face of gently and placed it against his chest to stench the blood flow. He smiled at the small girl, surprised at her bravery. He mustered up what strength he had left and carried her to the castle. When he reached the guards, he ordered them to send Gaius to King Arthur’s chambers and they obliged, seeing his state. Merlin carried Ygraine to her bed and he sat on Arthur’s bed, watching her closely. Gaius walked in and instantly yelled.

“Merlin! How idiotic can you get? You don’t expect me to believe you were stupid enough to go in the woods with Ygraine?” 

Merlin sighed and lifted his shirt, showing Gaius his chest. Gaius rolled his eyes but Merlin didn’t miss the worry on the old man’s face. Gaius began to wrap it in bandages and Merlin sighed laying back slowly. Without thinking he slowly closed his eyes. He absently felt Ygraine crawl on his chest and wrapped one arm around her as they both drifted off.

Gwaine walked into The royals chambers to check on Merlin and a warm smile lit his expression when he saw the tiny princess curled into a ball on Merlin’s chest, and he had an arm laying on her back. Gwaine heard the horns announcing Arthur and Gwen’s arrival, so he raced down and pushed them urgently to their room. Arthur was shocked to see Merlin laying on his bed, but saw the bags around his eyes and said nothing. Gwen laughed with delight seeing her closest friend and her daughter so close. Arthur wrapped Guinevere in his arms and whispered softly, let’s not wake them yet. He felt a small tug on his trousers and to his shock saw Ygraine staring at him.  
“Dadda! Don’t wake Uncle Merlin!” She insisted and the shock on Arthur’s face had Gwaine on the ground, rolling with laughter, causing a confused Merlin to sit up and stare at them with a comical expression while rubbing his eyes.

Over the years, Merlin and Ygraine were inseparable. He loved her so dearly that often they would have sleepovers in Merlin’s chambers and Ygraine would drag her mattress to his room. When she had nightmares, he sat in a chair by her bed and hummed all night. When she was an adolescent, she went on horseback rides with him every day and went to him every hour for council. When her parents scolded her, she went on strike and stayed with Merlin in his chambers on a spare bed he had permanently moved in there for her. She read every book he had and enjoyed chatting mindlessly with him while they created potions together. At Ygraine’s fifteenth birthday, Merlin was named Cout Sorcerer and she couldn’t have been happier. With his new duty, he searched for dragon eggs and when they were of age, he and Ygraine rode them together. Rumors quickly spread that she was as much Merlin’s child as she was Arthur and Gwen’s! Although Merlin was extremely protective of her, she was every ounce as protective as him, and the sad day Gaius died she quickly filled his role of scolding Merlin endlessly. There was nothing Merlin wouldn’t do for Ygraine, and nothing Ygraine wouldn’t do for Merlin. Often, Arthur got extremely jealous of Merlin, convinced that she loved Merlin more than him, and if she was furious she would say so to his face, but he trusted Merlin to take care of her and she always came back to her father in the end.

The End


End file.
